Cellular telephones have gained widespread popularity in recent years. These telephones allow users to communicate over a cellular network via a radio frequency (RF) transceiver present within the telephone. Many cellular telephones contain digital microprocessors which control operation of the RF transceiver and provide limited telephone-type functions to the user, such as autodialing and/or displaying stored telephone numbers. Such cellular telephones, however, lack the memory, display and user interface facilities necessary to execute many of the personal organizer applications found on personal computers.
More recently, a lap-top computer which contains an RF transceiver as a means for data input/output has become commercially available. This product, the PC Radio, available from International Business Machines Corporation, Boca Raton, Fla., provides the functionality of a personal computer with the capability of receiving and sending data over a cellular phone. However, a need still exists for a personal communication apparatus which can execute the personal organizer available on a personal computer, such as electronic mail, calculator, address book, and calendar, and which can further provide the functionality of a cellular telephone.
A portable communication apparatus is proposed herein that integrates the functionality of a personal computer with the communication possibilities of a cellular telephone to provide an apparatus with sophisticated computing as well as communication functions.